


Thought it was a Fanboy

by hopewritessometimes



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), F/M, I have no idea what I'm doing, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, Post-Avengers (2012), Reader-Insert, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, she puts up with the readers dramatic ass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 11:55:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20153176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopewritessometimes/pseuds/hopewritessometimes
Summary: soulmates are noted by a tattoo, a symbol of something that means a great deal to the other person.  y/n is born with captain america’s shield on her arm.  of course, she’s born into a world that believes the famed captain is long dead, so she naturally assumes it’s a fanboy, or someone who studies the war and captain america.  never does she expect it to actually be captain america.





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> hiya, this is my first time posting a fic on here. i've been writing on tumblr for a long time, my fic blog there can be found at @hopewritcs. i'll be transferring some if not all of my fics from there to here in the coming weeks. i really hope i tagged this right because i have no idea what i'm doing ha. anyway, i hope you like this and lmk what you think :) happy reading!

Soulmates, your mother had explained, were the universe’s true pairings. Each soul was designated with a tattoo somewhere on their body of something important, significant, to their soulmate. It would be a way to identify them when the time came. Of course, you’d asked how you’d know for certain if you couldn’t see the tattoo right away. Your mother replied that while in some cases the soul just _knows_ when their soulmate is right in front of them, it’s more often the slight itching sensation around your tattoo that doesn’t go away until you recognize your soulmate for who they are. 

This was because you were old enough to take notice of the mark right above your right elbow. It was small too, and depending on how you looked at it you wouldn’t see the whole thing. But it didn’t take your parents long enough to realize what the soulmate mark was. 

_Captain America’s shield_. 

Of course, your parents freaked out when they realized this. Steve Rogers, Captain America himself, had been dead for _decades_ by the time you were born. 

But the universe didn’t make mistakes, did it? 

It was a topic of conversation that you had for years in your own home. You’d kept the tattoo covered with make up or clothes when you could help it--most people would ask about it. And there were just too many questions that you didn’t have the answers to, or that you didn’t want to answer. 

You were around fifteen when your parents asked what you thought. They were definitely on the path thinking that the universe claimed you as Captain America’s soulmate. It gave them a sense of hope. You, however, explained that since Steve Rogers was long dead he couldn’t be your soulmate--“_the universe isn’t _that_ cruel”_\--and that it was probably just someone who was involved with the Captain America legend. You thought maybe it was a historian who studied Captain America, or even someone who created the Captain America action figures you saw in stores. 

You’d be happy with whomever it wound up being, because the universe had found you someone. And you trusted in that system, even if you didn’t completely understand it. 

By the time you graduated college you were working full time at Stark Industries in the PR department. You were, for the most part, a glorified intern with a little paycheck each week. You ran and got coffee, made sure everyone in the department had what they needed, and did proofreading. Sometimes you got to write assigned press releases. 

It was Pepper Potts, still assistant to Tony Stark at the time, who first noticed your work. You were dedicated and focused, barely even flinching when one of the other workers spilled coffee all over the front of your ensemble. You’d simply swatted at the stain with a paper towel on your desk before retrieving a spare outfit from the shared cabinet between yourself and two other cubicles before going to the restroom. 

Two weeks later you were working under Miss Potts directly as a secondary assistant to Mr. Stark. While Pepper was running around and making sure the company stayed afloat with Tony’s school boy ways, you were right by her side. 

When the base of operations moved to New York City from California, and Pepper was effectively CEO of Stark Industries, you were set up with an apartment on the living area of Stark Tower and promoted to Pepper’s full time assistant, with a significant bump in salary than you’d ever thought possible. 

You’d been getting ready for the morning meeting ( something you always did the night before, so if anything changed you had everything in order to adjust ), making sure to get the notes down and all the meetings in order when Pepper walked in with Tony following behind her. Neither of them noticed you. 

“I’m not meeting with Captain America, Pep.” Tony’s voice was low, but your head turned in his direction at the mention of Captain America. 

Over the past years you’d been living in such a Stark bubble making sure everything was running smoothly and that people were doing their assigned jobs and not gossiping, that you’d lost touch with the news of the world. Except in the case of Iron Man, you’d set up a secondary alert for any mention of Iron Man ( like you had for Mr. Stark himself ) so that you would be on top of any press for either entity of Tony. 

“It’s _Captain America_, Tony! He’s alive and out of his time and they’re all asking for you to do your part.” Pepper exclaimed back, dropping her hands to her sides and looking at Tony. “Don’t tell me this is--”

“I’m a grown man who can make my own choices and I’m choosing _not_ to join in on this crusade. Captain America can do this on his own.” 

“Captain America’s alive?” your voice was much louder than you’d expected, and you figured your heart rate had skyrocketed as you’d listened to their conversation. Your right arm was itching, and you shook the arm and tugged at the sleeves of the blazer you were wearing. 

Both parties in front of you seemed startled to find you at your desk still. It was well past midnight, and normally you’d gone to your apartment by now. But you’d had a late lunch meeting with some of the security team to talk about one of the upcoming trips for business which had put you behind. 

Neither knew about your soulmate. You’d never felt the need to explain as it never pertained to your job description. No one needed to know about the tattoo on your arm. 

Pepper spoke first, turning to look at you with a glint of worry passing in her eyes, “Y/N you’re still working?” she was ignoring the question. 

“Have you been ignoring the news lately?” Tony commented, coming over to your desk and looking over your shoulder at what you were working on. 

You turned to look at him, “Sorry Mr. Stark,” he raised his eyebrows at you and you shrugged. While you may have been friendly with both Pepper and Tony, you were still technically on the clock and weren’t going to call either of them informally. “I’m paid to pay attention to news about _you_, or _Iron Man_, or _Stark Industries_. That doesn’t leave a lot of free time for browsing the internet.” 

Tony smirked, pushing your chair aside and pulling up a browser window and searching Captain America. “Knock yourself out.” And then he took a couple of steps back and went to Pepper’s side. 

They were talking quietly, but you were reading the news articles on the screen. _Captain America Found Alive_. _Who is Captain America_? _Do We Need Captain America in Today’s World_? _Man Out of Time! Differences Between the Captain’s America and Ours_. _10 Reasons to Love Captain America_. You even found a youtube video clip of Captain America stuck in the middle of Times Square. 

Your heart was pounding loudly, echoing in your ears. 

All those years talking about soulmates, you’d never thought it could _actually be Captain America_. And to be fair, you were still sure it wasn’t. He was a man out of time as the one article said. There was no way that the universe had given him to you as a soulmate because there was _no way_ to know that he would be around in your time. You pushed away from your desk, your work forgotten as you brushed past where Tony and Pepper still stood talking softly to each other--more sweetly than angry whispering as they had at the beginning--and you made your way to the elevator bank to go down to your residential floor. 

You ignored the sounds of Tony’s AI speaking as you took the elevator downwards, though you did turn your head up ( to somewhere you figured the AI was, as if it were a physical entity ) with an apologetic look and shrug. You didn’t want to talk to anyone right then.

You’d been in the tower during the Battle of New York, despite several warnings from multiple agents to get out and go somewhere safer before everything happened. You were too busy working, and you’d been told that Stark Tower was probably one of the safest places in the world. Even during an alien attack with a temperamental God running amuck, you were sure that you’d be safe. 

You’d been working from your own quarters anyway, and you did barricade yourself in the bathroom since it was the farthest place away from the door to your apartment and there were no windows in the room. You used your tablet, keeping an eye on everything and were in touch with Pepper the whole time. She too scolded you for staying where you were and not leaving the city, but you knew she was just concerned for you. She was your friend, after all. 

After the night where you’d overheard the news of Captain America being alive, Pepper had brought you into her office one night and asked you if you were alright. It was there that you’d shown her your soulmate tattoo. 

“_I don’t know if it’s him or maybe all those things my parents said when I was a kid are just getting in my head now, but I don’t know Pepper. It’s like...I feel like I _know _I’ll be meeting my soulmate soon and suddenly I find out Captain America’s alive after all these years_?” You’d sworn her to secrecy too, since you weren’t exactly sure if he was your soulmate. 

It was a couple of weeks later before you came face to face with Captain America. You were half asleep, having just got back with Pepper from California and immediately going to work while she’d gone to find Tony and “talk business”. You were sitting at your desk with the largest cup of your favorite coffee in front of you when a throat cleared and you didn’t look up from your keyboard too focused to make sure you’d gotten all your handwritten notes typed up. 

The throat cleared again and you sighed, “Miss. Potts doesn’t have any meetings scheduled until after ten this morning. You’ll need to come back then when she’s in the office.” 

“Actually, ma’am, I’m looking for Tony.” 

You’d heard his voice before in news reels you’d seen recently, but something about hearing it taped and hearing it in person was different. You turned your head to look at him, your hands pausing in their motions. “Sorry Captain, I didn’t know it was you. Uh, Mr. Stark is probably with Miss Potts right now, we just got back after a week in California.” 

The blond looked stiff, not at all relaxed as someone should be when they were not fighting a battle. He looked ready for just about anything as he stood in front of your desk. A curt nod, “I can wait, if that’s alright ma’am.” 

You nodded at him and gestured to one of the couches in the office lobby around where your desk was placed. You watched him settle down, picking up one of the books you’d spread out there in case anyone wanted to do something while waiting for their meeting that wasn’t reading one of the other gossip magazines you’d set out too. Once you were satisfied he was settled in, you went back to your work. “It’s Y/N.” 

“Excuse me?”

You weren’t even looking in his direction, still keeping your glance on the notebook as you typed the corresponding notes into their correct files. “My name. Please call me Y/N, not ma’am. I know it’s not an age thing, but it’s politeness. It just... it makes me feel like I’m my mother’s age.” You were smiling, a soft laugh passing your lips as you typed. 

He was quiet for a moment before he replied, “Steve.” 

Your typing paused as you allowed yourself to glance in his direction. “Huh?” 

“If I’m going to call you by your first name, I’d appreciate it if you called me by mine.” 

“Alright Steve.”

It was a whole week later before you realized that Captain America had moved into Stark Tower. You’d run into him on the residential floor, literally. 

You were coming out of the elevator and he was going in. It was late, and you were half asleep. The only reason you were heading to your apartment was because Pepper had ordered you to do so, saying it looked like you hadn’t slept. She wasn’t wrong, so instead of arguing with her you’d packed up for the night and went downstairs. 

You hadn’t expected there to be anyone standing right at the elevator when you walked out, and you were met with a surprised grunt as you collided with what felt like a wall of muscle. You looked up and gasped. “Shit, I didn’t see you there. Apologies, Steve.” You yawned and took a step back and to the side to let him pass. But he didn’t move. 

“Are you alright, Y/N?” He was looking at you with a concerned set of blue eyes and you thought your heart downright stopped in your chest. 

“Yeah, don’t worry about me. I’m just tired, I swear.” You said, running a hand over your face as you suppressed another yawn. “This job is kind of a ‘round the clock gig. I don’t sleep much, I think I’ve started to worry Pepper.” You chuckle at the comment, but you see his eyebrows raise at the comment. You put your hand on his arm and offer him a smile, “I’m going to bed now. There’s no need to worry.” 

After a couple of moments of just looking at each other, Steve seemed satisfied and took a step into the elevator, “Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Night Steve.” You were about to turn to keep walking when you caught sight of his arm. 

In the same spot your tattoo laid, on his right arm just above the elbow, was his own soulmate mark. A small replica of the tattered, used, notebook your parents had given you as a gift before you left for college. It was what you’d used all these years whenever you had any ideas, kept hidden and tucked away always in your purse.

The elevator doors closed, leaving you standing around the apartments with a shocked look. 

Steve Rogers ( actual freaking _Captain America_ ) was your soulmate. 


	2. Part Two

You stood in the elevator bank for a while, staring at the elevator and blinking rapidly as the moment played back in your head. 

Captain America’s arm. His soulmate tattoo. _Your notebook_. 

“Miss I am detecting a heightened heart rate, are you alright?” JARVIS’ voice came from wherever it was that the AI was located. It struck you out of your phase and you realized you’d been scratching your arm for however long you’d been standing in the elevator banks as well. 

“I’m fine J. Is Pepper still in her office?” Your voice was high pitched, squeaky, like you were nervous. And you were, you _were_ worried. Even after all these years of knowing you had a soulmate--actually being in their presence and _finding out_ was completely different. 

You’d never thought you would freak out upon meeting your soulmate. 

Then again you’d also been convinced that your soulmate wasn’t the man who it clearly was. 

“No, Miss Potts has retired to Tony’s apartments for the night.” 

You hit the button for the elevator and got inside, pressing Tony’s floor as you said, “Tell them I’m on my way up, I need to see Pepper.” 

There was a pause before the AI replied, “Right away Miss.” 

The ride up to Tony’s apartment was silent, and it gave you time to think. You were pacing around in the small box as the doors opened and you were greeted by Pepper _and Tony_ standing there. 

“It’s after hours, Y/N. You can have her back bright and early tomorrow morning.” Tony hummed, a slight twinge of a pout on his face but you knew he was _mostly_ joking with you. 

You ignored his comment with a slight scoff and looked directly at Pepper instead, “It’s actually him.” And you hoped that she knew what you were talking about without you having to repeat the whole conversation, especially with Tony standing there. God only knew that if Tony knew, somehow it would get back to Steve. 

Pepper’s eyebrows crinkled in confusion for a moment before her eyes widened and she took a step toward you. “It’s him?” 

You nodded, “I saw his mark. I recognized it.” Your voice was shaky from the shock of it all, from the adrenaline rushing through you at finding your soulmate. You were nodding your head fast, shocked you hadn’t moved and begun to pace yet again. “It’s him.” 

Pepper was about to say something when Tony’s hand flew in between the two of you, his head turning between his girlfriend and you as he shook his head. “I love that you interrupted our night in,” and even though he’s cut off by Pepper exasperatedly saying _Tony_, he still continued speaking anyway, “for whatever this is. And since I’m here, mind telling me what it is that you two are talking about?”

“Soulmates.” Both of you respond at the same time, looking at Tony. Pepper’s annoyed that Tony interrupted the conversation rudely and you’re looking at him worriedly. If Tony knows just _who_ your soulmate is you know everyone will know because Tony Stark can’t keep his mouth shut. 

“Okay.” He dragged out the word, once again glancing between the two of you before focusing just on you. “So, you found your soulmate then.” A silent nod is the response he got from you as he let the news hang in the air. Sighing, Tony narrowed his eyes at you and asked, “Isn’t that good news?” 

You shrugged your shoulders and scoffed in reply as you shook your head. 

“Does he know?” Pepper asked. 

“Yeah, cause after I bumped into him and saw the tattoo I’m supposed to shout out _Hey it’s you! You’re my soulmate_. I don’t think that’s the exact way to do that.” You took a step back and sidestepped to be on the side of the others, running a hand through your hair. Your voice lowered as you continued speaking, “I mean how exactly do you break to someone that their soulmate wasn’t alive when they were, but is now?” 

Tony barked out a laugh, clapping his hands together as he looked at you, “You’re telling me that _Capsicle_ is your soulmate?” 

“Maybe a little louder, Stark. I don’t think the basement of the tower heard your shouting.” You exclaimed, turning to look at him. 

Tony raised his eyebrows at your outburst, putting his hands up as he looked at you. “And you’re sure it’s him? He’s actually _ancient_, Y/N. He’s in museums and everything.” 

You rolled your eyes, pulling your sleeve up and turning to show them both the mark, even though Pepper had seen it before. “I’m pretty damn sure. I saw my mark on him. It’s this notebook my parents gave me when I was going off to college, it’s got the same color and I could just _tell_.” You turned back to look at him and sigh softly, “You can’t tell him, Tony. Please, I don’t even... I don’t know how to tell him. I need time.” 

Both Tony and Pepper nodded after a couple of seconds, letting the news sink in. Then Tony led you over to the bar in the apartment and gave you a drink claiming that of all people you deserved it right then. And you spent the night distracting yourself from the news looming over your head as you sat at Tony and Pepper’s kitchen table with the two of them, ordering late night Thai food and laughing about something that happened earlier in the day. 

But when you went back to your own room that night, the buzz of the alcohol still thumping through your system, and laid down in bed to sleep your thoughts drifted back to Steve Rogers who was a couple of doors down from you at that very moment. 

Your soulmate. 

To your surprise, neither Pepper or Tony had mentioned what you yourself were calling “The Soulmate Incident” at all. You’d caught a couple of concerned looks from Pepper as you spent your days at your desk, or accompanied her to events, but she never said anything. And you were thankful for that, since you didn’t know what to do about it all. 

It had been almost two and a half months since you found out that he was your soulmate and you still hadn’t told him. You made sure to hide your tattoo when you knew he was around. Which, unfortunately, was _all the time_ since he lived in Stark Tower with you. So in the mornings when you went to the kitchen to make yourself breakfast, you had to wear a sweater to cover the soulmark on your arm. 

Every. 

Day. 

But the more time you spent with Steve, the more you got to know him and not just who you’d been told he was. He was so much more than the guy who you’d learned about growing up. He wasn’t just _Captain America _who gave up his life for his country, but he was Steve Rogers who put people’s needs before his own. He was the leader, but also the one who needed a lot of guidance in the world. 

Since you were the only two who lived in the tower at the time, you wound up showing him a lot of basic things in the world now. Of course, he knew some things, specifically with technology, since he’d been on missions and had dealt with tech before--like com systems and tablets. 

But you were helping him with the little list he kept in the notebook in his pocket. You were helping him learn about the culture of today’s world. Which had all started not too long after you found out he was your soulmate and that morning in particular you had made breakfast for everyone. 

_You were making breakfast for everyone, since it was a day with a later than usual start. Pepper had told you to go to bed last night well after two thirty in the morning and you’d agreed only on two conditions. One, that she would go to her apartment as well and rest. Two, she would start later in the morning and bring herself and Tony down for breakfast in the morning. After a few minutes of arguing Pepper agreed and followed you to the elevator. _

_Of course, when your alarm went off at the usual six forty five, you’d gotten up just to make sure all the meetings Pepper had were pushed back and you hadn’t forgotten anything important. Two hours of emailing back and forth with different assistants and department heads and making sure everything was alright, you found your way out of bed and got ready for the morning. _

_Already dressed for work as you cooked breakfast, your freshly washed hair in a bun on your head as you moved around the kitchen with such ease. You worked on getting things ready for a breakfast as you called for JARVIS to make sure that Pepper and Tony were awake and that breakfast would be ready in half an hour. After the assurance that both of them were awake, you’d had JARVIS put on your playlist and you began making food. _

_It was probably too much for just the three of you; a batch of pancakes and some eggs and cinnamon buns. You tended to go a bit overboard when making meals, especially in the tower, since you never knew who was around--it was usually Happy or even Natasha, sometimes Bruce ( since the Battle of New York he’d been working in the labs with Tony fairly regularly ) or Rhodey would be by. So you’d probably overestimated the amount of food, which is why in the middle of putting the cinnamon buns in the oven to cook you’d told JARVIS to let them know that breakfast would be ready soon if they wanted some. _

_You were in the middle of humming along to the song, singing softly to yourself and swaying to the beat, when you heard footsteps and you didn’t turn around to see who it was before you ordered them politely, “Can you set the table? There’s probably going to be at _least_ four or five of us. But I’d put extra plates and silverware on the table too, just in case anyone stops by. Never know who’s around the Tower.” _

_“No problem, Y/N. Do you need any help with the food?”   
_

_You held your shock well at his voice ( since you hadn’t spoken to him in a couple of days, keeping yourself busy with work and avoiding the whole _he’s my soulmate_ news that was dancing around your brain ). Turning to look at him, you put the pancake batter down and used the spatula to flip the pancakes already in the pan. “Nah, I’ve got this covered. But if you want to grab the juice from the fridge and put it on the counter. Everyone can usually handle making their own coffee if that’s what they want. I know Tony’ll probably be bringing down his own mug of coffee even if it’s the _same exact coffee he has upstairs_ he claims it tastes different.” You were laughing as you said it, shaking your head. _

_“That’s because it is different, Y/N.” Tony came in from the other entrance to the kitchen, a mug of coffee in his hands and Pepper right beside him. “I get this coffee special.”   
_

_You rolled your eyes, “Please Tony, as if you think I don’t have your _special coffee_ stocked down here too.” _

_Tony shook his head, taking a sip from his mug as he made his way to the table and sitting down, “Tastes different, my point still stands.” _

_By the time everything was done, or close to being done, there were at least eight people surrounding the table and all chattering away about their days plans. _

_You were still running back and forth getting everything out onto the table, making sure there was enough food for everyone else as you placed things onto the table around the others. Then you’d gone back into the kitchen to clean up the mess you’d made. If you didn’t do it then, you wouldn’t get to it at all. The music was much quieter now that everyone else was in the kitchen, but you’d kept it on and sang along under your breath as you washed the various pans and dishes you’d used to cook. _

_“Aren’t you going to eat?”   
_

_You turned your head to look at him and smiled at the worried look on his face. You nodded to a plate on the kitchen counter with a little bit of pancakes and your other favorite breakfast sides. “I will, but I need to get the dishes done first otherwise they’ll sit there forever.” _

_Steve nodded his head, leaning his arms on the counter for a moment before turning to his own food. “Do you always make everyone breakfast?” _

_“Sometimes. I think it’s nice to bring everyone together, especially since most of us are busy. Like Happy spends all his time down in the security office or he’s driving Tony or Pepper around, but he always comes upstairs when I make everyone breakfast. And honestly, making breakfast and having JARVIS force Tony out of the lab for a while is a good idea.” Your eyes glanced to the kitchen table where everyone was talking and eating. It made your heart soar, seeing such a simple thing bringing everyone together. Even if you were washing the dishes and not at the table, you felt included too. “Why aren’t you sitting with everyone else?”   
_

_“You weren’t sitting with everyone else either.”   
_

_“I’m cleaning.”   
_

_“I figured it would be rude to leave you without any company.”   
_

_You put the pan you’d been cleaning down on the drying rack and wiped your hands off on the towel on the stove before turning back to Steve with a grin, “Well thank you.” _

_“At least eat before your own food gets cold.” He said, pointing to your plate with his forkful of pancake.   
_

_You hesitated, turning to look at the sink full of dishes, and then turned back to look at Steve and moved to your own plate and taking a bite of your food. When you looked up at the table, you caught Pepper’s gaze in your direction and subtlety shook your head before turning your head back down to the food in front of you. _

_“What’s the song that’s playing?” He’d asked it quietly, directed just at you and you looked up at him. You had to listen to the song for a couple of moments with how low it was playing before you answered him.   
_

_“It’s Locked Out of Heaven by Bruno Mars.” _

_Steve pulled a notebook out of his pocket and a pencil, writing something down before turning back up to look at you. “What?” _

_“What’s that?” you asked, leaning up to look at what he was writing down. There were a couple of films and different songs or albums as well written on the list.   
_

_“I missed a lot about the world, so I’m trying to catch up on it all.”   
_

_“Do you want some help?”_

You’d made it through a bunch of the films on his list and had included a couple of your own. You’d made him a playlist for when he was in the gym, which you’d surprised him with one day. 

He’d been working with the bag in the gym and you’d walked past, simply telling JARVIS to put on Steve’s playlist from your account in the gym. It was filled with all the songs you’d seen on his list, including some of the ones you thought he needed to know. He’d found you after his workout and thanked you for the gesture, which you’d brushed off. It wasn’t as big of a deal as Steve was making it seem. Even if you’d spent hours working on the playlist and making sure to get as many songs from his list on there as you could. 

The best ( and worst ) part of it all was you were getting to know him. You were actually becoming friends with him, which was great. You really liked him, the guy you were getting to know was the one from all the stories you’d heard and textbooks you’d read over the years but he was a lot more than that. He was an artist, and he was compassionate, and he was caring. 

You were lucky that of all people in the universe, fate had chosen _him_ as your soulmate. 

Which is also why it was the worst thing to happen. The more time you spent with Steve, the more you could see yourself falling in love with him ( and you could feel it happening, even ). But he didn’t know, which was your fault. Because you hadn’t told him, you’d kept that bit of yourself hidden. 

In all honesty, Steve didn’t ever mention the idea of soulmates or his own mark. You figured it could have something to do with either the idea of his soulmate being dead after all these years, or maybe even the thought of Peggy Carter, but you didn’t focus on that too much. It wasn’t your place to worry about what Steve thought about soulmates. 

Okay, it _was_ your place as his soulmate, but it wasn’t your place as his friend. Which is what you solely were at this point in time. 

You were out with Pepper one night, probably four months after becoming actual friends with Steve Rogers, when you were away on business, sitting down at dinner after a day of back to back meetings as you both relished in the feeling of being free and getting sleep that night to head home in the morning. 

“How am I supposed to tell him?” you asked randomly, somewhere between the salad course and the main course. It wasn’t the first time you’d expressed this before, but it felt somewhat final right then. Like you were _desperate_ to know what to do. 

And you were. 

You hated lying to Steve, you could physically feel it every time you didn’t mention it, like it was weighing down on you. You knew you needed to tell him, or find some way out with it, but you didn’t know how. You’d asked Pepper a handful of times and gotten a couple of different answers from your friend. None of which you’d used in the past. 

“I’ve given you a ton of ideas before, Y/N. You could just walk around without the mark covered and see if he notices it, or you could tell him.” 

“Tell him? And explain that the entire time I’ve known him I’ve had this feeling like I knew he was my soulmate and I didn’t tell him for over half a year because _why_? How would that make it better?” You put your head in your hands and leaned back in your seat as you sighed. “He’s going to know I’ve known this whole time. I mean, my mark is obvious.” You vaguely gestured to your arm where the mark was currently covered by your blouse’s sleeve. 

Pepper shrugged her shoulders. She’d been through this with you before, and never did it seem to help settle you down after you got yourself worked up about it. She leaned forward and tugged your hands away from your face as she looked at you kindly with a small shake of her head, “Y/N, you can’t worry about what’s going to happen. You need to tell him or show him because it’s eating you up and as your best friend I really do hate seeing you like this.” 

You nodded your head agreeing with her. There was no use worrying about everything if you hadn’t even told him yet. So you turned your attention back to your food, cutting through the food as you spoke again with a firm nod. “You’re right. Once we’re back I’ll tell him.” You took the bite of food and glanced up at Pepper who had raised an eyebrow at you. You could tell what she was thinking, you’d made that same promise to her before and always wound up coming back to her for advice on how to tell him. “For real this time, I promise.” 

You weren’t sure if she believed you or not, but she didn’t say anything else. 

With your luck, you and Pepper had arrived back to Stark Tower to find it empty of anyone. Tony and Steve ( and the rest of the team ) had been called away to SHIELD for some business, or so Pepper told you the text she’d gotten from Tony said. 

So once again you’d pushed back coming clean to Steve. 

You had decided to go the route of not hiding your soulmate tattoo anymore, though. 

Which meant when you woke up one morning early, you’d gotten out of bed and went right to the kitchen without pulling a sweater on over your head. Yawning and still half asleep you poured yourself some cereal as you let the automated coffee machine time to turn on, scratching your arm absentmindedly as you grabbed the milk from the fridge. 

“What’s that?” 

The voice scared you and you jumped off of the floor thanking whatever Gods there were that you had yet to open the carton of milk you were gripping tightly and then you spun around to your right side. “_What_?” you asked, blinking a couple of times to see whoever it was that stood in the kitchen doorway. “Steve? What time is it?” you asked the question mostly to yourself as you glanced at the microwave and then went back to your business, pouring the milk into your cereal bowl. Then you looked back at him and noticed he hadn’t moved, “What’s what?” 

Within the blink of an eye ( or maybe a couple of blinks, you were tired after all ) Steve was right next to you and in your personal space, his hand gently taking your arm and his thumb brushed the mark. “What’s this?” his voice was softer this time, and his eyes weren’t on you but on the replica mark of his shield on your arm as he focused on it. Even if you could feel the tenseness in his posture, his grip on your arm was never anything but gentle as he brushed his fingers against the mark a few times. 

You had almost answered his question, but you were caught off guard by the motions and instead watched as he figured it out for himself. As you watched him, not breaking the silence of the moment, you could practically see the thoughts running through his head. You could pinpoint the moment when he realized that it wasn’t just a tattoo of his shield, but a soulmate mark. And you watched as his other hand flinched toward where his own was ( the same place yours sat ). In an instant, the milk carton your hand had been on was forgotten as you put your own hand on his soulmate mark, running the pad of your thumb across the notebook’s cover like you would run your own hand across the cover of the actual notebook itself. 

The two of you stood in the bubble of the moment for a long time, you didn’t even know how long it was. Neither of you said anything as your gaze went from the marks on each other’s arms and then back to each other. Your breath caught in your throat as you looked at him, and you felt like you were really looking at him and that he was really looking at you. 

It wasn’t just person to person, or friend to friend, it was soulmate to soulmate. 

The smile the creeped on your face and the smile that you found on his said more than anything either of you could have actually said in the moment. 

And you were glad that Steve Rogers ( actual freaking Captain America ) somehow defied time and space and was _your soulmate_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! let me know what you thought, i take requests over on tumblr @hopewritcs!


End file.
